Toy parachute



May 23, 1950 O. S. ANNABLE TOY PARACHUTE Filed Jaim 25, 1947 Fig. l 3"#INVENTOR.

OLIVER s. HNN ABLE ATTORNEY Patented May 23,1950 L'l TOY PARACHUTEOliver S. Annable, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Joseph R. Bergey, NewYork, N. Y.

Application January` 213, 1947, Serial No. 723,714

This invention relates to parachutes and provides novel forms ofparachutes and a method of making them, The invention has particularapplication to toy parachutes, but also to the making of inexpensiveparachutes for various other purposes, for example the support ofsignals;

fiares and targets.

'Ihe invention provides a parachute construction which is extremelysimple and very inexpen` sive to produce. Contrary to the conventionalpractice of attaching separate shroud lines to a parachute canopy, Ipropose to make both the canopy as well as all the shrouds from a singlepiece or blank of foldable material. Such material may be paper, orfabric such as silk or rayon, or any other suitable synthetic or plasticmaterial which is strong and light enough and adapts itself to foldinginto a small space.

The various objects, features and advantages of this invention willappear more fully from the detailed description which followsaccompanied by drawings showing for the purpose of illustrationpreferred embodiments of the invention. The

invention also consists in certain new and original features ofconstruction as well as combination of steps hereinafter set forth andclaimed. Although the characteristic features and steps of the inventionwhich are believed to be novel will be particularly pointed out in theclaims appended hereto, the invention itself, its objects andadvantages, and the manner in which it may be carried out may be betterunderstood by referring to the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings forming a part of it in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a square blank from which a substantiallysquare parachute with four shroud lines may be formed;

Figure 2 is a modified form of blank for a substantially squareparachute having four shroud lines, pairs of which are connected;

Figure 3 is a blank for a substantially triangular parachute;

Figure 4 is a blank for a substantially circular parachute;

- vFigure 5 is a perspective view of an opened parachute formed from theblank shown in Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of an opened parachute formed from theblank shown in Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of an opened parachute formed from theblank shown in Figure 4; and

v .Figure 8 shows a blank in which shroud lines` 4 claims* (enfle-s6)are formed by convolute cuts resulting in particularly long shroudlines.

f In the following description and in the claims various details will beidentied by specific names ifor convenience.' The names, however, areintended to be as generic in their application as the art will permit. y

Like reference characters refer to like parts in thel several figures ofthe drawings.

Inthe drawingsaccompanying, and forming part of, this specification acertain specific disclosure of the invention is made for the purpose ofexplanation of broader aspects of the invention, but it is understoodthat the details may be modifled in various'respects without departurefrom the principles of the invention and that theinvention may beapplied to other structures than the ones shown.

f The blank A in Figure 1 may be cut from paper or kfabric or any othermaterial light and strong enough and adapted to be folded into a smallspace, rice paper, silk and rayon being particul'arly suited asmaterials for the blank. The blank is substantially rectangular inoutline thus permitting blanks to be cut in multiple from sheets orrolls of material without waste.V The blank A is .cut along cutlines II,I2, I3 and I4 extending substantially parallel to, but spaced from, theouter .edges I5, I6, I 1 and I8 of the blank. These cuts form strips I9,20, 2| and 22 of the material which constitute shroud lines or shroudportions and are connected to the central portion 23 of the blank,forming the canopy of the parachute, along uncut portions 24, 25, 26 and21. The cut lines II, I2, I3 and I4 terminate for this reason at somedistance from one another leaving the portions 24, 25, 26and 21 uncut,wide enough, considering the tear strength of the material of the blank,to prevent tearing of the uncut portions when the parachute is in use.

The ends 28, 29, 30 and 3| of the strips, remote from the respectiveuncut portions, are adapted to be connected together in any suitablemanner, for example bya suitable clip or clasp of sheet metal of thetype generally used for connecting sheets of paper together, assumingthe parachute is intended to be used as a toy.

-The blank B shown in Figure 2 is likewise rectangular in outline. It isbordered by outer edges 32, 33, 34 and 35. Two internal cut lines 36 and31 separate two shroud line forming strips 38 and 39 from the remainder40 of the blank, the remainder forming vthe canopy. Each strip 38 and 39represents two shroud lines connected at the center at 4I and 42, theends of the shroud lines terna] cuts extending along, but spaced fromthe outer edge of the blank, into shroud-forming strip portions and amain portion forming a canopy, the strip portions being connected to thecanopy at both ends along uncut portions, the intermediate portions ofthe strips being adapted to be connected together for support ofparachute ballast; and a metal clip connecting together said strips atsaid intermediate portions and providing centered ballast for saidparachute.

4. A parachute comprising a canopy and shroud lines, both canopy andshroud lines being formed from a single sheet of foldable material byconvolute cuts extending along, but spaced from, the outer edge or" theblank and spaced from one another, said cuts separating shroudline-forming strips from the remainder of the blank, the strips beingconnected to the remainder of the blank along uncut portions; and ametal clip connecting together the ends REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are oik record in the nie of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,618,613 Turner Feb. 22, 19271,669,748 Gregor May 15, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date701,638 Germany Jan. 21, 1941

